"What?" Emma asked plainly and glared at Neal as though he was something particularly disgusting.
Neal looked right past her. Looked at Regina. His mouth became a thin line. For a moment it was like standing in front of Milah Cassidy-Gold and not her stupid son.
"THAT'S who you're dating?!" Neal asked way too loudly.
Emma set her jaw and squared her jaw. "Not that it's any of your damn business, but yes, it is. Got a problem with that?"
"But she's just a kid," Neal said and looked positively triumphant. "God, Em, I thought you had met someone you were serious about, but now I find out that you're dating some kid..." he laughed. "This is obviously just a rebound thing. Seriously, what is she, Em? Eighteen?"
"I don't see how Regina's age is of any relevance to you," Emma said coldly.
"God, Emma, you're dating a teenager!" Neal continued and shook his head.
"Regina's not a teenager, and she's way more mature than you'll ever be," Emma said flatly. "And if you'll excuse me, I'm in the middle of having breakfast with my girlfriend."
"Your girlfriend," Neal mocked. "Come on, Em! Stop kidding yourself! She's probably just some little gold digger who-"
"You shut up!" Emma interrupted with a growl. "If anyone's a gold digger here, it's you! Don't you think I know that your mom has tried to beg my mom to get me to take you back! Just because I'm the mayor's daughter! How's that for being a gold digger?!"
"I'm not interested in you because you're the mayor's daughter!" Neal bellowed. "I love you!"
Emma positively snorted at that. "Oh, cry me a river, man!"
"How can you be that naïve?!" Neal kept yapping on. "You're dating a teenager!"
"I'm dating a strong, beautiful, confident and wonderful woman," Emma told him. "One that you'll never even be close to ever measuring up to, and I think I've listened to enough of your bullshit, so if you'd excuse me, I'm going to have breakfast with my girlfriend!" with that salute she took a few steps backwards and turned her head. Regina looked very pale as she sat there. She was staring at the table and refused to meet Emma's eyes.
Emma saw Regina shift uncomfortably on her chair, pushing it a little away from the table as though she was trying to distance herself from all of it. Emma ached to leave this stupid conversation behind her so she could go over and hug Regina.
Regina's little shift didn't go unnoticed by Neal either, and it looked like his eyes were about to pop right out of his head when he glanced at Regina's noticeable bump. Maybe he was dumb, but not that dumb. He COULD put two and two together, and it didn't take long before he did. He stared wide eyed at her for a moment before turning his attention back to Emma.
"What the fuck, Em?!" he hissed.
"Neal," Emma warned. "It's none of your damn business!"
But Neal was clearly beyond all that. "You're dating some pregnant chick?!" he bellowed. "What the hell, Emma? What even is this?!" he looked at Regina again and shook his head like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Is this about kids? Is this some weird way at getting back at me because I wasn't ready to have children? Is that what this fucking farce is about, Em?!"
"No, this is about you cheating on me!" Emma yelled. "It's about you backing out on the day before our wedding because you've been fucking our wedding planner! And this is also about me being completely heartbroken and travelling because I needed to be anywhere but around you! And guess what?! I happened to meet the most amazing woman whom I'm madly in love with! THAT'S what this 'fucking farce' is about!"
Neal glared at her. Two red stains where forming on his cheeks, and Emma thought to herself that he looked deeply unattractive when he was angry. Everything about him was unattractive, she thought. Why had she never noticed what an ugly person he was inside and out? How could she possibly have been attracted to this man? It seemed completely impossible right now as she stood before him and watched him glare at her.
"Are you really so fucking desperate to get a baby?" he sneered.
"I told you to shut up," Emma warned. "And get the hell out of here! My relationship with Regina is none of your fucking business!"
But Neal wasn't done. Far from it. He lifted a trembling hand and pointed rudely to Regina's swelling belly. "Who's baby is that even, Em?!"
"I'm warning you.."
"Is she your fucking surrogate or something?! Are you paying her to-"
SMACK!
Emma had always been the type to act on her emotions. She wasn't one for leaving things bottled up. She had always been prone to use her voice loudly when something wasn't right. But she had never been a violent person. Not until now. There were no fitting words to describe what she felt for her former fiancé. The only way to get her message across was to do what she had just done. Lift her hand and let it connect with Neal's left cheek in a stinging, thudding slap. A slap that left her hand buzzing and aching to do it again.
Neal had clearly not seen the slap coming. He tumbled backwards and grabbed his cheek. "What the fuck, Em?! What the hell are you-"
"Here's what you're gonna do, buddy," Emma interrupted and cold barely recognize her own voice. She lifted a dead-steady hand and pointed towards the door. "You're gonna walk right out that door and then you're gonna pretend that neither me nor Regina exists. Because if you don't, I'm gonna call the police and report you for harassment. Is that clear?"
"Me?" he laughed, still with his hand pressed to the assaulted cheek. "You're gonna report ME for assault? You're the one who just fucking punched me in the face!"
"And I'll fucking do it again if you as much as look at Regina!"
"And I'll be right behind her," Ruby interjected as she came over to them with her hands on her hips. "You don't get to come into my grandmother's diner and cause a major scene! Instead of acting like a spoiled little boy, I suggest you grow a pair and accept that Emma's moved on!"
"And get your coffee somewhere else," Belle suggested. Her voice was completely calm which made what she said sound even more terrifying.
Neal glared at Emma again. "This isn't over, Em!"
"Oh, I think you'll find that it is," Emma said flatly. "Very, very over. Now get the fuck out of here!"
Neal spun around and stomped over to the door. He ripped it open and slammed it behind him, so the glass rattled and the bell above the door chimed loudly.
Emma realized that she was panting like some sort of angry bull. She felt like an angry bull. Fuck Neal and everything he stood for! God, Emma couldn't believe that there had been a point where she actually had been in love with him. The guy was absolute thrash! The idea that she had actually been wanting to marry him was nauseating!
"You punched him in the face!" Ruby said and sounded half-proud, half-horrified.
"I sure as fuck did," Emma said simply and rubbed her hand a little. "And it felt really good!" she turned around to check up Regina who were her first priority, but Regina wasn't sitting at the table anymore.
"I think she went to the ladies' room," Belle said quietly.
"Fuck!" Emma cursed. "I could fucking murder him! He doesn't get to show up here and say shit about Regina! I won't allow it! If he shows his ugly face again, I'll personally-"
"You should go and check up on Regina," Belle interrupted with that soft sensibility Emma so cherished about her.
Emma nodded and spun around on her heels. She nearly stumbled in her eagerness to get to Regina as she went through the hallway to get to the ladies' room.
The ladies' room at first sight looked deserted. All the stalls were open. Except for one. Emma could hear some shuffling coming from it. And some sniffling. Oh, fuck no!
"Regina?" she gently called as she moved closer to the door. "Regina, can I please come in?"
"I'll be out in a second," Regina croaked. "I just needed some...water."
"I hope you don't expect me to believe that," Emma said softly. "Please open the door?"
"Give me a second," Regina said hoarsely and wetly. "I'm... my hormones are a little out of control right now."
Emma's heart broke a little. "Honey, I'm so sorry," she said gently through the door. "He's an idiot! I'm pretty sure he was drunk, but obviously, that's no excuse! I'm not letting him say anything to you! I swear, if he as much as looks at you, I'll murder him!"
Regina croaked out a laugh.
"Please open the door?" Emma begged. "Please? I can't hug you through the door."
"No, I suppose you can't," Regina mumbled, and Emma saw the doorknob jiggle. A second later the door was opened, and Regina peered out at her. Her cheeks were wet and her eyes slightly red.
"Oh god, no," Emma nearly stumbled again as she straight up lunged at Regina and pulled her into her arms. "Come here! Oh god, I'm so sorry, please don't cry! I swear, I'll kill him for this!"
Regina laughed croakily again. "Please don't incriminate yourself on my part, querida."
"He's an asshole!" Emma hissed into Regina's hair. "And I wish there was some way I could make you forget everything he said to you!"
"Sí, I wish that too," Regina said quietly.
"I'm an idiot," Emma acknowledged. "I should have thought about that there was a possibility he would show up, I should have-"
"Querida, stop," Regina interrupted. "This is not your fault. It just happened, okay?"
"No!" Emma barked as she held her tighter. "It is not okay! It's not even remotely okay!"
Regina appeared to be swallowing something.
Emma rubbed her back in slow, gentle motions. "Did you throw up? Please don't say you got sick because of this!"
"I threw up because I drunk too much cream soda too fast," Regina did her best to joke, but it was a weak attempt.
Emma pressed a kiss to her temple. Then her cheek. If only she could erase that encounter with Neal!
"You... punched him," Regina said.
"I sure as fuck did."
"For... For me?"
"He was spilling shit and I wasn't gonna let him! So now you know that yep, I'm willing to punch someone for you," Emma tried to joke too. And failed.
"No one's ever punched someone for me," Regina mused.
"Yeah, well..." she held Regina close, but could feel how Regina was tensing in her arms. Clearly uncomfortable. Emma so desperately wished she could say or do something that would make Neal fucking Gold go away!
"I didn't know..."
"Huh?" Emma put her hands on Regina's shoulder so she could look in the eyes. "What did you say?"
Regina cleared her throat and kept her gaze firmly fixated on the floor. "I didn't know you wanted children that badly, querida."
"Neal was making a scene," Emma said immediately.
"He was," Regina agreed. "B-but this is still something you and he talked about, right?"
"Right," Emma nodded.
"You've mentioned that you and he had problems before he cheated," Regina whispered. "Was it because he didn't want kids?"
"Regina-"
"Was it?"
"We talked about it a few times," Emma said truthfully. "I wanted kids, but he wasn't ready."
"You still want kids," Regina stated. It wasn't a question. Her big brown eyes filled with tears. "Dios mio, how can you even be with me when you know that I'm gonna give something away that you have wished for for years?!"
"I'm with you because I love you!" Emma said firmly. "And you're right, yes, maybe I want kids. Someday. When I'm ready. I thought I was gonna have kids with Neal, but it turned out he was a major asshole, so now I'm relieved that I didn't get to have kids with him. He doesn't deserve to be a father, and I don't deserve to be tied to him for all eternity. And the fact that I might want to have kids someday in the future has nothing to do with this." she touched Regina's stomach once. "What you've decided to do is something I admire and support a hundred percent." She kissed Regina's cheek now. "I'd support you no matter what you chose, beautiful girl. No matter what. So don't you dare think otherwise!"
Regina was quiet for a long time. She had even stopped crying, and for a second Emma feared that she had screwed up completely. That Neal's "surprise appearance" had screwed things up. But then Regina said very quietly: "tu ... tu me amas?"
"What?" Emma blinked.
"You..." Regina lifted her head a little. "You said that you loved me."
"Oh," Emma swallowed nervously. "Yeah, I... might have said that."
"Did you mean it?" Regina asked. She sounded just as nervous as Emma.
"Definitely," Emma said. "I mean, it's not the way I would have said it, but I definitely mean it!"
"Yo también te quiero," Regina said quietly.
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Emma asked. Now she was smiling.
"Sí," Regina confirmed and returned the smile. "I love you too."
"Oh, wow!" Emma blurted. "This morning is definitely not turning out how I imagined it to do, and even though I have a few complaints, this is nice."
"It is," Regina agreed and finally wrapped her arms around Emma's neck instead of just standing in her arms.
Emma hugged her tighter. "Look, Neal's an idiot, okay? A stupid, drunken idiot who were just looking for ways to attack you. That's how the Gold's do things. They try to find so-called weak points in your armor, and-"
"Well, he definitely found one here," Regina interrupted and put one hand on her belly.
Emma lifted her hand and kissed it lightly. "I'll kick his ass if he ever tries something similar!"
Regina laughed a little. "I'd like to see that."
"I hope it won't be necessary," Emma said and tried to grimace even though she was laughing at the same time.
"I'm sorry I made a scene," Regina said. Now she was the one to grimace.
"You didn't. Neal did," Emma said simply and gently wiped Regina's tear stained cheeks.
"Your friends must think that I'm some hormonal-"
"My friends thinks that Neal is a massive asshole who should crawl back and die in the hellhole he came from," Emma said plainly and kissed Regina's cheek again. "Do you wanna come back to the table and have the rest of your breakfast? Or we can just go back home if you're tired-"
"I'm actually a bit hungry still," Regina said sheepishly. "I think I'd like to have the rest of my breakfast."
"That's my girl," Emma said softly and took Regina's hand. "Come on. Let's go and have that breakfast."
They returned to the restaurant where Ruby immediately declared that Neal was "just about the worst asshole ever". That made Regina snicker slightly. She sheepishly said that she was a bit embarrassed over causing a scene, but both Ruby and Belle brushed that off and said firmly that Neal was the one who had caused a scene. Not Regina.
"I might mention this to my father," Emma said darkly. "He's in the police force. And I know he's just looking for an excuse to keep an eye on Neal."
Regina chuckled slightly. "I really don't want to cause a stir up."
"You're not," Emma assured and watched as Regina dug into her breakfast. "Is there anything else I can get you?"
"How about a whiskey?" Regina suggested with a soft snicker. "I could have used one right now."
"You drink whiskey?" Ruby asked amusedly.
"Sí," Regina nodded and chuckled. "My father and I like to have a glass of whiskey at night." she sighed a little. "But unfortunately I can't have any whiskey right now."
"How about another cream soda?" Emma offered.
Regina laughed a little again. "That sounds good."
She got her cream soda, and she started to look a little better. The color returned to her cheeks, and Emma gnashed her teeth and silently cursed Neal fucking Cassidy-Gold. Who did he even think that he was?! Coming in here and saying so much crap about Regina? He had some nerve. And to think that he actually believed that Regina was just "some rebound thing". Emma damn nearly wanted to laugh. She had never been more serious about anyone than she was about Regina. She loved her. Really fucking loved her. And she was so grateful that she was single when she travelled to Madrid. Because what would have happened had she been "Mrs. Cassidy" when meeting Regina? Would she still had fallen head over heels in love with Regina? Emma had a feeling she might just have done that despite being married. How could she not?
A soft, warm hand touching hers brought Emma back to reality. She turned her head and smiled at Regina. "Hi."
"Penny for your thoughts, querida?" Regina asked lightly.
Emma shrugged. "Nothing major. Nothing that matters."
"That's not true," Regina insisted and raised an eyebrow. "I can see that you were thinking about something."
Emma lied a little bit. "Okay, you're right. I was thinking about something. I was thinking about what to make for dinner."
"Dinner?" Regina echoed.
"Mm, my parents are going out tonight, so it'll just be you and me."
"Oh," Regina said. Now she was flushing a little bit, and she quickly took a sip of her cream soda.
Ruby was quick to pretend that she was fiddling with something behind the counter, but Emma had seen the grin on her face. So had Belle. She rolled her eyes as she looked at Ruby. Emma turned her attention back to Regina and asked: "so? What do you want for dinner?"
"I could make dinner," Regina immediately suggested.
Emma snorted. "Yeah, right. You're here as my guest. No way I'm gonna ask you to make dinner!"
"You didn't. I suggested it," Regina corrected. "And I actually do wanna cook one day. When your parents are home. Do they like lasagna? Or paella!"
"Mmm!" Emma said spontaneously. She knew from experience that Regina's paella was like, really, really good.
Regina snickered and put her hand over Emma's. "Do you think your parents would like if I made paella one night?"
"I think they'd love that," Emma said warmly. Ruby looked at her and mouthed 'oh my god!' and Emma had no problem with understanding why. Suggesting to cook for Emma's parents was such a Regina-thing to do. Completely natural for her. And certainly not something Neal EVER would have even thought of suggesting.
"But first things first," Emma insisted with a slight grin. "What would you like for dinner tonight?"
Regina offered a slight shrug. "I don't know, querida. I've barely finished breakfast."
"I'm thinking that we're staying in instead of going out, right?" Emma thought aloud.
"That sounds nice," Regina smiled.
"I could make tacos!" Emma realized. "It's not as sophisticated as paella, but it's damn good!"
"Tacos sounds very good," Regina said appreciatingly as she pushed her now empty plate away. "And thank you for the breakfast, it was absolutely delicious." She looked at Ruby and smiled. "Very, very delicious."
"I'll tell my grandmother that," Ruby said and returned the smile. "She'll be happy to hear it."
Emma gave Regina's hand another little light squeeze. "Do you wanna go home now and get some rest?"
"Absolutamente no," Regina half-chuckled. "You promised me to show me around town, Em-ma!"
"Okay, okay," Emma laughed. "That's what we'll do then. A nice little walk around town."
"That sounds very romantic," Ruby teased.
"Emma is very romantic," Regina said with a light shrug.
"Is she?" Belle said and grinned at Emma.
"Sí," Regina assured. "She really is."
"Huh. And here I thought that you didn't have a romantic bone in your body, Swan," Ruby teased and gave Emma a nudge.
Emma mock scowled at Regina. "Thanks for selling me out in front of my friend, babe."
"You're welcome, querida," Regina laughed and did that sexy smirk thing where she raised her eyebrow.
Emma felt the effect of that smirk in certain places. It was definitely time to get out of this dinner. "Are you ready to leave?" she asked lightly. "Or do you want some more breakfast?"
"More breakfast?" Regina scoffed. "Querida, I couldn't possibly eat anything more. I'll end up looking like a whale by the third trimester!"
"You won't," Emma laughed. "You'll look beautiful no matter what."
"Urgh, get out of here, please," Ruby said and wrinkled her nose. "You're starting to get disgusting!"
Emma laughed again. "Fine, fine. Ready to go, Regina?"
"Sí," Regina said as she with surprisingly lightness stood from the chair. "I'm ready to go."
"Awesome," Emma grinned. "Let's do it then." she stood from her chair as well and slipped an arm around Regina. Then she looked at her friends and told them: "see you later, guys."
"See ya," Ruby laughed.
"It was very nice to meet both of you," Regina said sweetly.
"Likewise," Belle said and returned the sweet smile.
"It was nice to have you confirmed as being real," Ruby added.
"Ruby!" Emma scolded. "Do you take me for a liar or what?"
"Of course not," Ruby defended with a twinkle in her eyes.
"You're awful, and we're leaving," Emma said with feigned gruffness as she elegantly steered Regina towards the door.
Regina laughed as they left the diner. "It was very nice to meet your friends, querida. They're very sweet."
"And they already adore you," Emma said simply. "Did you see the way they charged at Neal?"
"I sure did," Regina nodded. "It was very sweet."
"Mmm," Emma said a bit distracted. Fucking Neal! If only he hadn't shown up and been a massive dickhead. This could have been an absolutely perfect morning if only he hadn't opened his big fat mouth...
"Querida?"
"Yep," Emma said quickly. "Right here."
"You weren't a moment ago," Regina said softly. "You were thinking about Neal again weren't you?"
"Maybe a little bit," Emma admitted. "I'm just upset that he ruined-"
"He didn't ruined anything," Regina interrupted. "Not unless we let him, right?"
"Right," Emma conceded with a slight smile.
"This morning was very nice," Regina continued. "I had the most amazing breakfast, and then you told me that you love me. I don't think I could wish for more."
"No?" Emma teased. "What about this then?" she abruptly brought both of them to a halt and leaned in so she could peck Regina's lips.
"Querida, we're in the middle of the street," Regina admonished, but she was smiling at the same time.
"Yeah, I know," Emma laughed. "Isn't that terrible?"
"Shut up," Regina said. She stood on her tippy toes as her arms wrapped around Emma's neck. "Mi amor," she said softly, and every last thought about teasing immediately vaporized in Emma's mind. Those two little words. They were enough to make her forget who she was and where she was going.
"Say it again?" she asked. "Please?"
Regina chuckled as she pecked the corner of Emma's mouth. "Mi amor."
"Why does everything sound better in Spanish?" Emma wondered out loud.
"No se, mi amor," Regina teased.
"Yeah, I'm gonna need a recording of you saying that before you go back to Spain," Emma said simply.
Regina chuckled again, pecked Emma's cheek. "Come on, mi amor, you promised you'd show me around town."
"So I did," Emma acknowledged. "What would you like to see first? We could stop by the town hall where my mom works, or we could head out to the Toll Bridge, it's very nice out there. Or we could head out to the stables, or maybe we could just start with the Main Street-"
"There's stables here?" Regina interrupted with starlight in her eyes.
"There is," Emma confirmed. "You like horses?"
"Sí! Very much so!"
Emma laughed. Regina's enthusiasm was adorable. "Alright then. Let's go and visit the stables first. Come on, Milady."
They walked down the street hand in hand, and despite the nasty and unwanted meeting with Neal, Emma was happy. This morning was perfect. Regina was in Storybrooke, she was smiling and chatting on in Spanish, and tonight it would just be the two of them enjoying a meal together. Emma silently thanked her mother for being smart enough to figure out that they'd want some time on their own.
Emma gave Regina's hand a little squeeze and earned herself a soft smile in return. Regina's eyes sparkled as she looked at Emma's hometown. She looked like she fitted right in here. It didn't look like she needed anytime to adjust at all. She looked like she felt right at home here.
"Happy?" Emma asked quite unnecessarily.
"Very," Regina smiled. "Are you?"
"The happiest," Emma said goofily.
Regina flashed her another little smirk. One that made Emma feel even happier. If that was even possible.
To Be Continued...
